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Abraham Kazen
| birth_place = Laredo, Webb County Texas, USA | death_date= | death_place=Austin, Travis County Texas | resting_place=Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Laredo, Texas | state = Texas | district = 23rd | termstart =January 3, 1967 | termend=January 3, 1985 | preceded = Newly-established district | succeeded =Albert Bustamante |office2 =Texas State Senator from District 21 (Brooks, Dimmit, Duval, Jim Hogg, Jim Wells, La Salle, Maverick, Starr, Webb, and Zapata counties) |term_start2 = 1953 |term_end2 = 1967 |predecessor2 =William A. Shofner |successor2 = Wayne Connally |office3 =Texas State Representative from Webb County |term_start3 =1947 |term_end3 =1953 |preceded3 = |succeeded3 = | party = Democratic | spouse = | children = | relations=Nephew George P. Kazen | religion = Roman Catholic | occupation= Attorney | residence= Laredo, Texas | alma_mater= Martin High School University of Texas at Austin Cumberland School of Law |branch=United States Army Air Corps |battles=North Africa, Sicily, and Italy in World War II |rank=Captain | footnotes= }} Abraham Kazen, Jr., usually known as Chick Kazen (January 17, 1919—November 29, 1987), was a U.S. Representative from Texas's 23rd congressional district, the first to serve in that particular position. Elected in 1966, Kazen served until 1985, having been defeated in the 1984 Democratic primary election by Albert G. Bustamante. Background Kazen was of Lebanese descent a Maronite from the Khazen family. He was a lifelong resident of the border city of Laredo in Webb County in South Texas. He graduated in 1937 from Laredo High School, renamed Martin High School. He then attended the University of Texas at Austin from 1937 to 1940. In 1941, Kazen graduated from the Cumberland School of Law in Lebanon, Tennessee, since removed to Birmingham, Alabama. Military service Kazen served in 1942 as a United States Army Air Corps pilot at the since closed Lubbock Air Force Base. During World War II, Kazen fought in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy as a pilot in Troop Carrier Command. He was discharged in 1953 with the rank of captain in 1953. Public service In 1946, Kazen was elected to the Texas House of Representatives and served from 1947 to 1953, having been elected in 1952 to the Texas Senate. He served continuously for fourteen years through 1966 and was elected president pro tempore of the State Senate in 1959. He served as acting governor of Texas on August 4, 1959. He was a member of the Texas Legislative Council for sixteen years. He was succeeded in the state Senate by his fellow Democrat Wayne Connally of Floresville in Wilson County, a brother of Governor John B. Connally, Jr. He was elected to Congress as a Democrat in 1966 to representing the newly-created 23rd District. It was the largest congressional district in area in the nation (excluding at-large districts encompassing whole states), stretching across eight hundred miles from El Paso in the west to San Antonio in the east. It had been created when Texas' previous congressional map was thrown out by the United States Supreme Court in the case Wesberry v. Sanders. He was reelected eight more times with no substantive opposition. In 1984, Kazen's opponent in the Democratic primary was Albert Bustamante, a Bexar County circuit court judge from San Antonio. By this time, the 23rd had become a majority-Hispanic district. Because of demographic changes, Bustamante upset Kazen in the primary. To date, Kazen is the last Anglo Democrat to have represented a significant portion of San Antonio in the U.S. House. , Texas]] Kazen retired to Laredo after his congressional defeat. He was an uncle of retired United States District Judge George P. Kazen of Laredo. Kazen died in Austin, Texas, and is interred Calvary Catholic Cemetery in Laredo. campus]] Kazen is honored through the naming of the Kazen Center, the student union building, at Laredo Community College, Abraham Kazen Middle School, in San Antonio, Texas; and Kazen Elementary School, in Laredo. External links * * Category:1919 births Category:1987 deaths Category:American military personnel of World War II Category:United States Army officers Category:United States Air Force officers Category:American politicians of Lebanese descent Category:University of Texas at Austin alumni Category:Cumberland School of Law alumni Category:Martin High School (Laredo, Texas) alumni Category:Members of the Texas House of Representatives Category:Members of the United States House of Representatives from Texas Category:People from Laredo, Texas Category:Texas Democrats Category:Texas lawyers Category:Texas State Senators Category:American Roman Catholics de:Abraham Kazen